Variable length trousers construction

ABSTRACT

A trousers construction including variable length, tubular trousers legs having a reversely extending fold inside the legs and a separately formed cuff detachably secured at the bottom edge portion of each trousers leg to permit varying the length of the cuffed trousers legs by upward and downward adjustment of the cuffs with respect to the lower edges of the trousers legs and by varying the depth of the reversely extending fold inside the trousers legs.

imited States Patent 91 Bailey 1 51 Mar. 27, 1973 I 1 VARIABLE LENGTHTROUSERS CONSTRUCTION [76] Inventor: George Terrell Bailey, PO. Box

4 271, Johnsonville, SC.

[22] Filed: Jan. 14, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 106,401

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 836,268, June'25, 1969, Pat. No.

52 US. Cl ..2/269 [51] Int. Cl. ..A41d 27/00 [58] Field of Search..2/227, 232 R, 232 A, 269

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,538,513 11 1970 Hernandez,..12 269 2,583,861 1/1952 Lewallen 1,023,864 4/1912 Miller et a]...2/232 1,448,455 3/ l 923 Leander ..2/232 2,677,829 5/ 1954 Rothsteinet a1 ..2/269 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 678,747 9/ 1952 GreatBritain .....2/232 Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Attorney-Patron,Bell, Seltzer, Park & Gibson ABSTRACT A trousers construction includingvariable length, tubular trousers legs having a reversely extending foldinside the legs and a separately formed cuff detachably secured at thebottom edge portion of each trousers leg to permit varying the lengthofthe cuffed trousers legs by upward and downward adjustment of the cuffswith, respect to the lower edges of the trousers legs-and by varying thedepth of the reversely extending fold inside the trousers legs.

.6 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHARZY ma SHEET 10F 2 Geo RaeTEREE-LL BNLE-Y WW M7115, AQMW ATTORNEYS PATENUDmzmn ,7 2,001

sum 2 0r 2 INVENTORI Geezer: TEREE-LL BAlLE-Y BY W 4 1 nil ATI'OR NEY5VARIABLE LENGTH TROUSERS CONSTRUCTION This application is a division ofmy co-pending application Ser. No. 836,268, filed June 25, 1969, now US.Pat. No. 3,585,644, dated June 22, 1971, and entitled VARIABLE LENGTHTROUSERS CONSTRUC- TION.

This invention relates to improvements in garments, and'moreparticularly to a trousers construction having separately formed cuffsdetachably secured to the trousers legs thereof to permit readyadjustment and/or readjustment in the length of the trousers legs toaccommodate changes in size of the wearer without involving a refoldingof the cuff which would necessitate recreasing of the cuff and normallyexpose worn portions thereof.

For inventory and storage reasons, the great majority of the trousersmade by garment manufacturers today are shipped to retailers in astraight or uncuffed condition. The retailers thereafter measure cut,and cuff the trousers to the particular appropriate length when they aresold to a customer. This permits the retailer to carry a smallerinventory based only on the waist size of the trousers to properly fithis customers.

Once trousers have been cut and cuffed by a retailer in the abovemanner, the trousers legs are not capable of being appreciablylengthened in cuffed form, should the height of the purchaser increaseat sometime during future wear of the trousers. This problem isparticularly acute in fitting young boys trousers, and, as is quiteoften the case, the effective life of the trousers is foreshortened bythe growth rate of the boy, and not by the wear on the trousersthemselves.

It is also sometimes the case that an individual purchaser of a pair oftrousers will undergo a sufficiently large weight change so as to causea change in the position at which the trousers are worn, therebychanging the position of the cuffs of the trousers on the legsof thewearer, and necessitating adjustment of the same to provide proper fit.

In the last few years, it has also been a practice to utilizeresin-treated textile fabrics in the manufacture of mens and boystrousers. These textile fabrics are composed of cellulosic fibers, suchas cotton, rayon, and blends thereof with other natural or syntheticfibers, which are treated with a suitable resinous composition which isheat cured on the finished trousers to impart a wrinkle resistant,permanent press finish thereto. Because of the'- necessity of employinghigh temperatures which require relatively expensive equipment to cureand set creases in such resin-treated trousers, it is impractical forretailers to have such equipment and to cuff such resin-treated trousersat the time of fitting. It has been therefore a practice of many garmentmanufacturers to pre-cuff all trousers made from resin-treated fabricsprior to shipment to the retailer. In such cases, it becomes necessaryfor the retailer to stock a much larger selection of these trousers inorder to accommodate both the waistand leg sizes of his purchasers, thusresulting in increased expense to the retailer in inventory and storageof the permanent press-type trousers.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved trousers construction which permits the retailer and purchaserto readily vary the length of the cuffed trousers legs of untreatedtrousers constructions, as well as resin-treated permanent presstypetrousers constructions.

It is another object to provide a trousers construction wherein thelength of the cuffed trousers legs may be readily shortened orlengthened by a purchaser of the trousers to accommodate growth and/orchange in size to permit varying the length of the cuffed trousers legsby upward and downward adjustment of the cuffs with respect to the loweredge of the trousers legs and by varying the depth of the reverselyextending fold inside the trousers legs.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated,others will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is an explodedperspective view of a trousers construction showing a first embodimentof the present invention wherein the separately formed cuff of eachtrousers leg is spaced from the lower edge portion of the respectivetrousers leg for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of one of the detachablecuffs seen in FIG. 1 together with the lower edge portion of thecorresponding trousers leg to which the cuff is attached, omitting thevertical seams therein and with forward portions of the cuff andtrousers leg shown in phantom lines; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of thecuff and trousers leg of FIG. 2, with the detachable cuff removablyattached to the trousers leg;

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are. longitudinal sectional views through one side ofthe trousers leg and cuff of FIG. 3, and illustrating sequentially thepositions of the cuff and trousers leg as they are progressivelyadjusted to increase the efi'ective length of the trousers leg;

FIG. 7 is an exploded, perspective view similar to FIG. l,v but showinga second embodiment of trousers construction of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, exploded perspective view of the detachable cuffsand trousers legs of FIG. 7, with the forward portions of the cuff andtrousers legs shown in phantom lines;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the cuff and trousers leg of FIG. 8,with the cuff removably attached to the trousers leg; and

FIGS. 10-13 are longitudinal sectional views through one side of thetrousers leg and cuff of FIG. 9, and illustrating sequentially thepositions of the cuff and trousers leg as they are progressively.adjustedto increase the effective length of the trousers leg.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, FIG. 1

shows a first embodiment of the trousers construction of the presentinvention which includes a pair of trousers 10 having tubular trouserslegs ll, 12 and separately formed tubular cuffs 14, 16 to be removablysecured to the lower edge portions of the adjacent trousers legs. As isusual, each tubular trousers leg ll, 12 may be constructed of suitablyformed sections of fabric joined together and forming at their juncturesan outseam "and an inseam 18 (FIG. 1) along opposite sides of eachtrousers leg l1, 12. Also, each tubular cuff 14, 16 may be formed of asingle length of material or two lengths of material joined together attheir junctures and forming opposing seams 11a, 18a (FIG. 1) thereoncomplementing the trousers leg seams 17, 18. The seams 17, 18, 17a, 18a,are omitted in FIGS. 2-6 for purposes of clarity. Since the constructionof trouserslegs ll, 12 and the respective cuffs 14, 16 is substantiallyidentical, only the construction of the right leg 11 and cuff 14 will beshown and discussed in detail.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lower endof the pliable material forming thetubular trousers leg 11 has a reversely extending fold 20 on the insideof the leg. The separately formed cuff 14 is composed of-a tubularshapedmaterial which has been twice folded upon itself to provide a doublelayer, upwardly extending outer fold 30 forming an outer face portion ofthe cuff, and a double layer, upwardly extending inner fold 32 providedwith free or unattached upper ends 33, 34 for attaching the cuff to thetrousers leg.- As shown, both folds 30, 32 of this embodiment of cuff 14are about the same width.

As shown in FIG. 3, cuff 14 is removably attached to trousers leg 11 instraddling relation to the lower edge portion 11a of the trousers legwith the double layer outer fold 30 of the cuff outside the trousers legand the double layer inner fold 32 of the cuff inside the trousers leg.The free upper ends 33, 34 of inner fold 32 of cuff l4 and the upperedge 20a of the fold 20 of the trousers leg material lie in asubstantially common horizontal plane locatedadjacent the upper edge30:; of the cuff The inner fold 32 of cuff 14 and the reverselyextending fold 20 of trousers leg 11 are removably secured to the insideof the trousers leg by suitable means, such as a thread'stitchconstruction 35 extending through and connecting the free upper ends ofthe folds 32, 20 to trousers leg 11. By locating the upper edges of cuffinner fold 32 and the upper-edge of reversely extending fold 20 oftrousers leg 11 adjacent the upper edge 30a of cuff outer fold'30 andpositioning thread stitch construction 35 below the upper edge of cuffouter fold 30, the stitch construction securing the cuff and trousersleg fold to the leg body will at all times be hidden from view duringwear behind the outer fold or face portion of the cuff. i

In order to adjust the length of each cuffed trousers leg to accommodatea size change in the individual wearer, the thread construction 35attaching the cuff and the trousers leg folds to the inside of thetrousers leg is removed and the depth of .the reversely extending fold20 on the inside of the leg shortened to lengthen the trousers leg thedesired amount. The cuff is then reattached to the trousers leg, asshown in FIG. 5, with the lower fold line 14a of cuff 14 spaced from thefold line 20b forming the'lower edge of the trousers leg.

To provide maximum lengthening of the cuffed trousers legs, cuff 14 maybe repositioned ,with leg fold 20 completelylet out and the cuffattached thereto, as shown in FIG. 6.

It should be appreciated from the embodimentv of trousers constructionshown in FIGS. 1-6, that the thread stitch construction 35 removablysecuring both the reversely extending fold 20 of trousers leg 11 and theupwardly extending inner fold 32 of cuff 14 to the inside of trousersleg 11 is at all times located behind the upwardly extending outer fold30 of the cuff,

and inseams of the trousers legs 60, 62 and cuffs 64, 66

are indicated at 61, 63, 61a, 63a, respectively, in FIG. 7, but areomitted in FIGS. 8-13 for purposes of clarity. As in the firstembodiment of trousers construction illustrated in FIGS. 1-6, the cuffs64, 66 and trousers legs 60, 62 of the second embodiment shown in FIGS.7-13 are substantially identical in construction; therefore, onlytrousers leg 60'and cuff 64 will be illustrated and discussed in detail.

Referring to FIG. 8, cuff 64 comprises a tubularshaped material whichhas been doubly folded upon itself to form a double layer, upwardlyextending outer fold 67 which forms an outer face portion of the cuff,and a double layer, upwardly extending inner fold 68. Inner fold 68 hasfree upper ends 69, 70 for attaching the cuff to trousers leg 60, andthe free upper end 70 of at least one layer of cuff inner fold68-extends upwardly for an appreciable distance D beyond the upper edge67a of cuff outer fold 67. By'extending the free upper end 70 above theupper edge 67a of the outer fold of the cuff, the cuff may be moresecurely fastened to the inside of the trousers leg when the upper edgeof outer fold 67 is positioned closely adjacent the lower edge of thetrousers leg, as will be explained.

The lower end of the material of trousers leg 60 has a reverselyextending fold 72 on the inside of the leg. By comparing FIGS. 2 and 8of the drawings, it can be seen that the depth of trousers leg fold 72inFIG. 8 is greater than the depth of trousers leg fold 20 shown in thetrousers construction of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 9, the upper edge 72aof leg fold 72 is located substantially above the upper edge 67a of cuffouter fold 67 when ,the cuffed trousers leg 60 is in a foreshortenedcondition with the outer and inner folds of the cuff straddling thelower edge portion of the leg.

By providing a deeper reversely extending fold in the trousers leg, itcan be appreciated that the cuffed trousers leg of FIGS. 7-13 can belengthened to a greater extent than the form of trousers constructionshown in FIGS. l-6. However, because the position of attachment of theupper edge of leg fold 72 and the free end 70 of cuff inner fold 68necessarily will be above cuff outer fold 67 when the cuffed trousersleg is in a shortened condition (FIG. 9), it is desirable that the meanssecuring cuff 64 and legfold 72 to the inside face of the trousers leg60 is substantially hidden from external view. Such may be accomplishedby providing, in addition to a normal thread stitch construction 73securing cuff 64 and leg fold 72 to trousers leg 60 below the upper edge67a of the outer fold of the cuff, whip-stitch constructions 74-78(FIGS. 9-13) to secure the upper edges of trousers leg fold 72 and cuffinner layer end 70 to the inside face of the leg when they are locatedabove the edge 67a of cuff outer fold 67.

FIGS. -13 show, progressively, the manner in which cuff 64 may bere-positioned with respect to the lower edge of trousers leg 60 and thedepth of reversely extending leg fold 72 shortened or lengthened to varythe effective length of the cuffed trousers. As shown, when cuff 64 ispositioned with the upper edge of cuff outer fold 67 closely adjacentthe lower. edge of trousers leg 60 (FIGS. 11-13), the upper end 70 ofcuff inner fold 68 may be whip-stitched to the inside of trousers leg 60to provide an additional securement of the cuff to the trousers leg andfacilitate its attachment thereto. In certain cuts of trousers whereinthe taper of the legs is quite pronounced, it may be desirable, duringthe manufacture of the trousers, to reduce the taper in the lowerportions of the legs to insure that there is no wrinkling or bunching ofthe trousers leg material or the cuff material when the cuffs arepositioned and/or repositioned thereon.

It can be appreciated that, in both embodiments of the invention, thelength of each trousers leg may be varied simply by adjusting therespective cuffs 14,64 upwardly or downwardly with respect to the loweredge of the respective trousers leg, and additional variation introusers leg length is effected by adjustment of the correspondingtrousers leg inner fold 20, 72 to increase or decrease the depththereof, as the case may be. In all instances, the trousers constructionof the present in vention permits lengthening or shortening of thecuffed trousers leg without the need for refolding and recreasing thecuff to obtain the desired adjustments, a feature. which not onlyappreciably shortens the time required to make an adjustment in thelengths of the trousers, but which also precludes any undesirable visualexposure of worn lower edge portions of the cuff and trousers legmaterial as a result of such adjustment. Also, by maintaining the lowerfold line of the trousers leg within the confines of the inner and outerfolds of the cuff, the bottom edges of the trousers leg are protected atall times, thus eliminating a look of wear when the trousers legs arelengthened to such extent that the previously folded bottom edges of thetrousers legs will be visible above the corresponding cuff.

It should also be noted that, in both embodiments of the trousersconstruction shown in the drawings, each cuff portion of the trousers atall times has at least four layers of thickness of material thereinirrespective of the position of the lower edge of the trousers legs.This feature ensures that the out? is of sufficient bulk and weight tomaintain its proper shape, as in the more conventional cuffconstruction, andv it also facilitates proper drape and hang of thetrousers during wear.

From the fdregoing detailed description,. it can be appreciated that thevariable length trousers construction of the present invention isequally adaptable for use in both those types of trousers made fromuntreated textile materials and in those types of trousers made fromresin-treated permanent-press type material wherein permanent creasesmay be cured in the trousers legs as well as in the separately formedcuffs by the garment manufacture. It is apparent that the cuffs may beremovably attached to the lower edge portions of the trouser legs andthereafter variably positioned with respect to the lower edges toshorten or lengthen the trousers without having to alter the permanentcreases of the latter type of trousers which permanent creases have beenpermanently set into the trousers.

It is also apparent that, upon either of the two forms of cuffsdisclosed herein becoming worn excessively, such cuffs may be readilyreplaced with new cuffs, thereby contributing substantially to anextended useful life of the trousers. 1

In the drawings and specification, there have been set forth preferredembodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation.

I claim:

1. A variable length trousers construction comprising tubular trouserslegs, the lower end of the material of each trousers leg having areversely extending fold on the inside of the leg, a separately formedcuff detachably secured at the bottom portion of each trousers leg, saidcuff comprising a tubular-shaped material having a double layer,upwardly extending outer fold forming an outer face portion of the cuffand a double layer, upwardly extending inner fold having free upper endsfor attaching said cuff to said trousers leg, said cuff inner foldhaving a width at least about as wide as said cuff outer fold, andpliable means extending annularly throughout said tubular cuff andremovably securing said double layer inner fold of said cuff and saidreversely extending fold of the trousers leg to the inside of saidtrousers leg with said cuff outer fold positioned outside the lower edgeportion of said trousers leg and said cuff inner fold positionedadjacent the lower edge portion of said trousers leg to permit varyingtheeffective length of the cuffed trousers leg by upward and downwardadjustment of said cuff and its securing means with respect to the loweredge of the trousers leg and by varying thedepth of the reverselyextending fold of the trousers leg inside the trousers leg.

2. A structure according to claim I, wherein said cuff outer and innerfolds are of about the same width, said cuff inner fold being positionedagainst the reversely extending fold of the corresponding leg, and saidpliable securing means comprising a thread stitch construction extendingthrough said cuff inner fold and the corresponding trousers legmaterial, but being obscured from view outside said trousers leg by saidcuff outer fold.

3. A structure according to claim 1, in which that layer of said cuffinner fold nearest said cuff outer fold is substantially wider than theother layer of said cuff inner fold, and said other layer of said cuffinner fold being substantially the same width as said cuff outer fold.

4. A structure according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said freeupper ends of the inner fold of the cuff extends upwardly for anappreciable distance beyond the upper edge of said outer fold tofacilitate secure attachment of the inner fold of the cuff to the insideof the trousers leg when the cuff is positioned with the upper edge ofsaid outer fold of the cuff closely adjacent the lower edge of saidtrousers leg.

5. A structure according to claim 4, wherein said'cuff inner fold ispositioned against the inner surface of said reversely extending fold ofthe corresponding trousers leg, said pliable securing means comprising afirst whipstitch thread construction securing the upper edge of said onefree upper end of the inner fold to the inside said pliable meansremovably securing the reversely extending fold of the trousers and theinner fold of the I cuff to the inside of the trousers leg comprises athread stitch construction extending through and connecting said foldsand said trousers leg below the upper edge of the outer fold of the cuffto hide the thread from view beneath the cuff of the trousers.

' t 1: i t a: t

1. A variable length trousers construction comprising tubular trouserslegs, the lower end of the material of each trousers leg having areversely extending fold on the inside of the leg, a separately formedcuff detachably secured at the bottom portion of each trousers leg, saidcuff comprising a tubular-shaped material having a double layer,upwardly extending outer fold forming an outer face portion of the cuffand a double layer, upwardly extending inner fold having free upper endsfor attaching said cuff to said trousers leg, said cuff inner foldhaving a width at least about as wide as said cuff outer fold, andpliable means extending annularly throughout said tubular cuff andremovably securing said double layer inner fold of said cuff and saidreversely extending fold of the trousers leg to the inside of saidtrousers leg with said cuff outer fold positioned outside the lower edgeportion of said trousers leg and said cuff inner fold positionedadjacent the lower edge portion of said trousers leg to permit varyingthe effective length of the cuffed trousers leg by upward and downwardadjustment of saId cuff and its securing means with respect to the loweredge of the trousers leg and by varying the depth of the reverselyextending fold of the trousers leg inside the trousers leg.
 2. Astructure according to claim 1, wherein said cuff outer and inner foldsare of about the same width, said cuff inner fold being positionedagainst the reversely extending fold of the corresponding leg, and saidpliable securing means comprising a thread stitch construction extendingthrough said cuff inner fold and the corresponding trousers legmaterial, but being obscured from view outside said trousers leg by saidcuff outer fold.
 3. A structure according to claim 1, in which thatlayer of said cuff inner fold nearest said cuff outer fold issubstantially wider than the other layer of said cuff inner fold, andsaid other layer of said cuff inner fold being substantially the samewidth as said cuff outer fold.
 4. A structure according to claim 1,wherein at least one of said free upper ends of the inner fold of thecuff extends upwardly for an appreciable distance beyond the upper edgeof said outer fold to facilitate secure attachment of the inner fold ofthe cuff to the inside of the trousers leg when the cuff is positionedwith the upper edge of said outer fold of the cuff closely adjacent thelower edge of said trousers leg.
 5. A structure according to claim 4,wherein said cuff inner fold is positioned against the inner surface ofsaid reversely extending fold of the corresponding trousers leg, saidpliable securing means comprising a first whip-stitch threadconstruction securing the upper edge of said one free upper end of theinner fold to the inside face of the trousers leg, and a second threadstitch construction extending through and connecting the inner fold ofthe cuff and the trousers leg at a position below the upper edge of theouter fold of the cuff.
 6. A structure according to claim 1, wherein theupper edge of the fold of the trousers leg material and the upper edgesof the free ends of the inner fold of the cuff lie in a substantiallycommon horizontal plane adjacent the upper edge of the outer fold of thecuff, and said pliable means removably securing the reversely extendingfold of the trousers and the inner fold of the cuff to the inside of thetrousers leg comprises a thread stitch construction extending throughand connecting said folds and said trousers leg below the upper edge ofthe outer fold of the cuff to hide the thread from view beneath the cuffof the trousers.